The Caribbean island of Barbados will become the first British commonwealth country in nearly 30 years to declare itself a republic on its 55th anniversary Tuesday.
The new title will remove Queen Elizabeth II as the Barbados head of state, replacing her with Prime Minister Mia Mottley. Prince Charles is expected to attend a celebration in the country’s capital of Bridgetown Tuesday. Barbados said it plans to remain a part of the commonwealth as an independent republic. The last country to remove the queen’s titular role was Mauritius in 1992.
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The timing of the move from constitutional monarchy to a republic has been questioned by some of Mottley’s opponents, such as Verla De Peiza, president of the Democratic Labor Party.
“We are moving blindly into something because Ms. Mottley has not taken us into her confidence and let us know the type of republic that is in her mind,” De Peiza said, according to the Washington Post. “I call it a breech birth.”
The announcement came last year after the death of George Floyd sparked a global conversation surrounding racism. During this time, the country decided to let go of its colonial history and cleanly break from the monarchy.
“The time has come to fully leave our colonial past behind,” Mottley declared in a September 2020 Throne Speech, delivered by Gov. General Sandra Mason. “Barbadians want a Barbadian head of state.”
Mason has been elected the country’s first president with two-thirds of the vote. Mason previously served as the monarch’s representative.
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Barbados joined the commonwealth in 1966. Similar to Australia and Canada, it became an independent country but kept the queen as the head of state. Both Australia and Canada have discussed removing the queen as their head of state. However, neither country has managed to pass the referendum needed to do so.
